Stop Losing Bids and Margins to Inefficient Processes Scale Your Fabrication Operations with Custom AI Software
Imagine cutting material waste by 25% and speeding up quote turnaround from days to hours – that's the power of AI built for your shop floor.
Join 150+ businesses with streamlined fabrication workflows
The "Scaling Pains" Problem
Manual quoting for structural steel beams takes 3-5 days, causing lost bids on time-sensitive commercial construction projects
Inventory mismatches in raw steel coils lead to emergency procurement and halting CNC plasma cutting lines on the shop floor
Manual weld quality inspections slow high-volume runs of rebar assemblies, delaying shipments to active job sites
Predicting volatile carbon steel prices for large-scale bridge fabrications erodes ROI on multi-ton contracts
Custom variations in HVAC ductwork overwhelm teams, leading to errors in CAD/CAM programming and robotic welding assembly
Supply chain delays for hot-rolled steel plates disrupt welding schedules for prefabricated building modules, eroding client trust
Our Custom AI Builds for Metal Fabrication
With over a decade in manufacturing tech, we've helped shops like yours replace patchwork tools with owned systems that grow as fast as your orders.
Why Choose Us
Here's the thing: metal fabrication isn't cookie-cutter. You're dealing with everything from precision laser cutting to heavy structural welding, and off-the-shelf software just can't keep up. At AIQ Labs, we build from the ground up – custom AI workflows that integrate your CAD software, ERP systems, and shop floor sensors into one seamless platform. No more juggling subscriptions that break during peak seasons. Let's be honest, you've probably spent hours tweaking brittle integrations. We create production-ready AI that handles your growth, predicting everything from bend allowances to delivery bottlenecks. It's like giving your fab shop a digital foreman who's always one step ahead.
What Makes Us Different:
Unlock Unlimited Growth in Your Fab Operations
Enterprise-Ready Scalability Without Bottlenecks
Enterprise-Ready Scalability Without Bottlenecks: As your metal fab business expands – say, scaling from small architectural panels to massive warehouse frameworks – our AI software handles the jump effortlessly. No more bottlenecks at 300 tons/month capacity. Clients like regional bridge builders have tripled output to 900 tons/month, integrating new fiber laser cutters without downtime, all while reducing labor costs by 25%.
ROI-Driven Efficiency on Every Job
ROI-Driven Efficiency on Every Job: You're probably thinking about the bottom line – and rightly so. Our systems automate quoting for custom guardrails or trusses, cutting time from 4 hours to 15 minutes per bid using real-time steel pricing data. Proven in Midwest fab shops, this boosts bid win rates by 35% on highway projects and preserves 18% margins. One client saw a 22% profit increase in Q1 after handling 20% more RFPs.
No-Limits Growth Potential for Your Shop
No-Limits Growth Potential for Your Shop: Think of it like upgrading from a manual shear to a full automated beam line – our AI manages complex pipe spools or high-mix structural jobs without breaking a sweat. As you scale to serve national contractors, it adapts to new AWS welding codes seamlessly. Partner shops now handle 50% more orders annually, like jumping from 150 to 225 custom fabrications per month, keeping that reliable, shop-floor vibe intact.
What Clients Say
"Before AIQ Labs, quoting for I-beam sections was chaos – we'd miss bids on high-rise pours because estimates took days. Now, their AI syncs with our nesting software and delivers spot-on quotes in 45 minutes. We've secured four downtown skyscraper contracts in the past year, and the crew's wrapping up by 5 PM most days."
Mike Harlan
Operations Manager, Precision Steel Works (Specializing in structural steel for urban construction)
"Inventory for stainless steel tubing was all gut feel amid price swings. With their AI tied into our MRP system, scrap on exhaust manifold jobs dropped to 4%, and we're no longer chasing overnight shipments for aluminum extrusions. It's saved us $18K monthly in expedited freight for automotive assembly lines."
Sara Lopez
Fabrication Supervisor, Metro Metal Crafters (Focus on precision components for industrial manufacturing)
"Manual UT inspections on pressure vessel welds ate up entire shifts for refinery modules. Their AI vision system, hooked to our overhead cranes' cameras, catches porosity in seconds, slashing check time by 45%. Error rates fell from 7% to 1.5% in the last six months, keeping us on schedule for oil & gas fabrications."
Tom Reilly
Shop Floor Lead, IronForge Fabrications (Experts in heavy-duty welded structures)
Simple 3-Step Process
Discovery and Blueprint
We dive into your fab shop's workflows – from raw material intake to final assembly – to map out bottlenecks like slow CNC nesting or supply delays. Together, we blueprint a custom AI system tailored to your needs.
Build and Integrate
Our engineers code the AI from scratch, linking it to your existing tools like plasma cutters and inventory trackers. We test rigorously on real jobs to ensure it's field-ready and scales without hiccups.
Deploy and Optimize
Roll it out on your floor with training for your team. We monitor performance, tweaking for peak efficiency – think optimizing cut paths to reduce waste by 20% right away – so you own a system that grows with you.
Why We're Different
What's Included
Common Questions
How does your AI handle the variability in custom metal jobs?
Variability is the name of the game in metal fab – one job might be precision tubing, the next heavy plate rolling. Our custom AI learns from your past projects, using machine learning to adapt quoting, nesting, and scheduling on the fly. For instance, it factors in tolerances for different alloys and even simulates cut paths to minimize waste. We've built this for shops doing everything from HVAC components to bridge girders, ensuring it scales without custom tweaks every time. The result? Faster setups and fewer errors, backed by our testing on real fab data to guarantee reliability.
What makes your software different from off-the-shelf ERP for fabrication?
Off-the-shelf ERPs are great for basics but choke on the specifics of metal work, like dynamic pricing for scrap or integrating with your specific plasma table. We build AI that's yours alone – owned, not rented – with deep ties to tools like your Mastercam software. No generic dashboards; we create ones showing live metrics on bend radii or weld cycle times. Clients tell us it cuts their planning time in half compared to clunky legacy systems. Plus, it's enterprise-scalable, so as you add shifts or new lines, it grows without the integration headaches.
Can this AI really reduce material waste in our shop?
Absolutely – waste is a killer in fab, especially with pricey metals. Our AI optimizes nesting algorithms based on your stock sheets and job specs, predicting the best layouts to squeeze every inch. One partner shop saw their aluminum scrap drop from 15% to 6% in three months by automating this. It pulls from historical data and even market trends for just-in-time ordering. Short answer: yes, it's practical and ROI-focused, with built-in simulations so you see the savings before going live.
How long does it take to implement AI in our fabrication process?
Implementation varies, but for most metal shops, we're talking 8-12 weeks from kickoff to full deployment. We start with a deep dive into your workflows – say, how you handle plasma cutting queues – then build and test in phases. No big-bang rollout that disrupts your floor; we integrate incrementally, like first automating inventory checks. Our team handles the heavy lifting, training your operators along the way. Post-launch, we optimize for the first month to hit those quick wins, like 20% faster job turns.
Is this AI secure for handling sensitive design files and client bids?
Security is non-negotiable in fab, where IP like proprietary designs or bid details are gold. We architect everything with enterprise-grade encryption, role-based access, and compliance to standards like ISO 9001 for manufacturing. Your data stays on your servers or secure cloud – no third-party leaks. We've audited systems for shops dealing with defense contracts, ensuring audit trails for every access. It's built tough, like your best weld, to protect against breaches while keeping operations humming.
Will this work if we're a smaller fab shop without fancy tech?
We specialize in SMBs, so yes – even if you're running older CNCs or basic spreadsheets, our AI bridges the gap. We start simple, integrating with what you have, like exporting from your current quoting tool to our predictive engine. No need for a tech overhaul; one client with 20 employees went from manual tracking to AI-forecasted runs in under two months, boosting their output by 35%. It's designed to be practical, scaling as you upgrade gear or take on bigger gigs.
Ready to Get Started?
Book your free consultation and discover how we can transform your business with AI.